Page 122 of Knot Without My Permission
When she comes up for air, she grins as she looks past me.
“So is there ice cream?” she asks, making me turn my head.
Ransom and Storm gaze heatedly at us and Storm nods. “And brownies,” he reminds her, his voice low and husky.
Well, we definitely gave them a show. Marie clambers to her feet with Lore’s help, and I can tell that she feels a little lightheaded. Standing as well, I follow them, grinning whenStorm steals her away to feed her a different dessert than I just did.
“Lucky fucker,” Ransom teases me as we walk into the house.
“The timing definitely makes me lucky,” I grin.
Life comes at us fast, gotta grab every moment with both hands or you’ll miss it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
One month later
Lore
“Do you want to go for a ride, Marie?” Ryder asks, showing off her gorgeous new bike.
“I want to ask if it’s safe enough, but you wouldn’t suggest this if it wasn’t,” Marie murmurs, her fingers hovering over her motorcycle with a huge smile on her face.
“I have your leathers in the trunk of the SUV,” Ransom admits. “I know there’s snow on the ground, but I was hoping you’d be able to ride today.”
Ryder called Storm a couple of days ago to report that Marie’s motorcycle was ready for pick up. The last I had heard was that it would still be a few weeks yet, but Ryder said he couldn’t sleep and needed to finish it early.
This isn’t unheard of for him. He gets bouts of creative energy he has to work out, and boom, his custom bikes are done. It’s one of the reasons people come to him to build theirmotorcycles. Not only does he love doing this, he’s driven by his creative demons.
It’s hard not to respect that when the results look like this. My neck gaiter is down today, as I finally came clean to Ryder about my identity. The guilt of not telling him about his daughter is eating at me, so something else had to give.
Maybe one day I’ll tell him about Hastings, but it won’t be today.
“I have special snow tires on the motorcycle so you’ll be able to ride, as well as four loaners for your alphas, Marie,” Ryder says. “I want to know if there’s anything I need to tweak before I send you back to Minneapolis with your bike. Ride the fucker hard, I want to know what you think.”
Ryder doesn’t know this, but I booked a cabin to spend a couple of nights in the Black Hills with my pack. I need to disconnect from everything but them right now as I finally make some tough decisions.
I’m wrestling with officially stepping back into the president’s shoes. I think it’s time, and my club is struggling with some supply issues because people are making the mistake of thinking the club is weaker with my “death”. I grumbled about this to Marie and she grinned at me and asked if we needed to buy new hammers.
Just when I think I have my omega all figured out, she manages to surprise me.
When we get back, she has an appointment with a gynecologist at a hospital Dr. Royal recommended and he has privileges at. It’ll be the first time we hear the baby’s heartbeat, a fact that blows my mind.
“What do you think, Princess?” I ask.
Our baby is safe in her uterus, and with the proper gear, I don’t see why she can’t ride. See? I can be civilized. I’m just going to make sure she’s as bubble wrapped as possible.
“I really wanna ride,” she says, biting her bottom lip excitedly. Her hand moves to her stomach without thinking and Ryder’s brows raise.
We haven’t told anyone about the baby yet, but Ryder just figured it out.
“People ride motorcycles pregnant every day, kiddo,” Ryder says under his breath. “It's as safe as I can possibly make it.”
“Then yes, let’s do it,” she says with a grin, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I guess it’s pretty obvious, huh?”
“Only because I’m paying attention to where your hands are. Now, promise me you’re going to ride strapped,” Ryder lectures her.
She nods quickly, walking to our SUV to grab her riding gear and weapons while Storm, Wilder, and I move closer to him.
